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Page 28
was his mother's: crisp, dark hair, graying very slightly now, cut evenly a few inches below the ears and growing from a decided peak on the forehead. His mouth was small and well-shaped, but the thin upper lip betrayed his cruelty, and the full lower one his lust. His nose was good and straight; the wide-springing nostrils would have warned of choler, but no man needed that warning.
All the Angevins had fierce tempers. John's, in fact, was less apparent than Henry's or Richard's. The former had been driven into such rages that he rolled the floors and tore at carpets and pillows with his teeth; the latter had more often broken furniture or heads. John was seldom violent. His temper seethed within him, gnawing at his vitals. Thus, it was not well to look into his large, dark eyes, which otherwise would have been his best and most beautiful feature.
A chorus of sycophantic laughter greeted the king's dismissal of a vassal who, if he had not loved John, had yet been faithful and had answered every call for military service until illness had made it impossible. Salisbury was saddened by his half brother's long-lived rancor, but he accepted it as he accepted John's other weaknesses, making what excuses he could for the baby brother he had protected and shielded all his life.
"He is dead, so forget him," Salisbury urged. "Tell me, brother"
"But his lovely and wealthy widow is not dead," John interrupted, forestalling Salisbury's attempt to lead him to some other topic.
The purr was back in John's voice, and Salisbury shuddered inwardly, but he could not drive his winesodden brain to conceive a subject that would be more interesting. Suddenly John laughed.
"Poor woman, likely she was as glad to be rid of him as I. He must have been a useless hulk to her these many years. It comes to my mind that I would do the lady a favor by cutting short her mourning and provid-

 
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